Hating on Hughesnet

Hating on Hughesnet

I got HN in the spring, bundled with DISHTV, assuming all internet providers were pretty much the same, and leaving behind a small local company that had provided reliable internet for a reasonable price. First I learned that I'd be paying more, but I thought, Okay, I can handle that. Then I realized how pathetic the service is. Internet is so slow I can't even watch a short video on Facebook without it buffering several times. Often the internet just goes away for no reason. I started trying to contact HN. The phone # is a joke. They are ALWAYS experiencing "very high call levels". I did their timing tests and was told my speeds are fine. I tried the online chat, and the woman told me to buy more data. I almost got through to a tech once, but when I missed the call they left a message telling me to call the same number that never answers. I finally filled out a survey they sent, told them how frustrated I am, and they said they'd contact me by email. That was two weeks ago.

Re: Hating on Hughesnet

Sorry, but your assumption was wrong. Satellite is a completely different animal to terrestrial internet. Read why at the solution to this thread. Generally, satellite is meant as an option for people in rural areas where no viable terrestrial option exists.

As far as trying to contact HN, your best bet is through this support board. Not sure why a support person suggested you buy more data unless you were sold a plan that's too small for what you use it for. But that can be solved too. There are many suggestions here on how to manage data useage.

* Disclaimer: I am a HughesNet customer and not a HughesNet employee. All of my comments are my own and do not necessarily represent HughesNet in any way.

Re: Hating on Hughesnet

If you exhaust your monthly allotment of high speed data the speed of the service will be throttled due to being subject to the Fair Access Policy, or FAP. This may very well be why your service is slow, and from the sound of it, with the phone rep telling you to buy more data, this may very well be the case. You can see your remaining data with the HughesNet Usage Meter, which you can gethere, or you can sign into the same site and look on the Usage page, which is listed under the MyAccount tab. You can also download the HughesNet Mobile App from the same place as the Usage Meter, just below it on the page.

If you are currently subject to FAP, your service speed will remain in throttled state until your new monthly data cycle begins. If you have Bonus Zone data remaining, your service speed will not be subject to FAP during the Bonus Zone hours of 2AM to 8AM.

If, in fact, you aren't out of data, there may be some other issue, and that would require troubleshooting, but you should check to see if you have any data left, first.

Lastly, can you describe what you mean by "Often the internet just goes away for no reason."? Bad weather, such as heavy rain or heavy cloud cover with rain, at your location, and at your gateway location, can affect your service, but this should only be temporary.

Re: Hating on Hughesnet

Hi pegfish,

Welcome to the community! I can see how your experience trying to get help was frustrating, I'm sorry your experience was not the norm. You're here now so we can help! What Mark and Gabe said are great pieces of info.

To add on to this, I've run diagnostics on your site and noticed you have 8 devices currently connected to your network. This is fine until you try to use all of them simultaneously because then your 25 Mbps speeds get split up among all the devices.

My main concern is Pegs-ipad which has used almost 3 GB since 8/5, and the Hopper connected to your network. Set top boxes like the Hopper and DirecTV can use a LOT of data without your knowledge, as they are continuously communicating over the internet to stay updated. It's suggested to keep such devices disconnected from the internet when you're not using it, this way you can avoid losing big chunks of data when you need it.

Re: Hating on Hughesnet

Good morning pegfish,

It's been a while since we last heard from you, so we will close this thread. Hope the suggestions in this thread helped you out. If you still have concerns, please start a new thread and include a detailed explanation so we can better assist you.

Thanks,Liz

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